INDONESIA ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP)

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000699 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, EAP/RSP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB SUBJECT: INDONESIA ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) REPORT, March 2005 to March 2006 (PART 2 OF 4) BRIDE PURCHASE PHENOMENON -------------- Update -------------- Starting in the early 1990s many women and girls from West Kalimantan were sent to Taiwan as wives of Taiwanese men. These women and girls could be called Qmail-order bridesQ as most often such marriages were negotiated by agents in Indonesia, selected on the basis of their photographs by men abroad intending to procure an Indonesian bride, and, in most cases, the chosen women did not get to see their husbands until they reached Taiwan. However, because of the increasing number of foreign brides, the Taiwan government imposed a limit on the number of brides from certain countries that could enter Taiwan each year -- for Indonesian brides the number was limited to 360. It cannot be said with certainty if that is the reason for the practice of sending women from Indonesia to Taiwan as mail- order brides appears to have decreased in recent years, but reports from West Kalimantan say that the phenomenon still exists. On the other hand, more Indonesian women are now opting to work as domestic workers in Taiwan because of higher wages. There is no evidence yet to suggest that labor export agencies are using false job orders to procure Indonesian women for marriage to Taiwanese men. (Source: ACILS/ICMC, QWhen They Were SoldQ, November 2006). According to Indonesian trafficking task force police in Kalimantan, Indonesian women are oftentimes taken to Taiwan to be used for prostitution or for short-term marriages of a few years after which they are sent back to Indonesia. Indonesian police said are trying to detect and put a stop to this practice. An Indonesian manpower agency also told us in 2006 that men from many countries, including the U.S., come to Jakarta to interview potential spouses who line up for the interviews. End update. The GOI, including the police, and NGOs like LBH-APIK and ICMC/ACILS have documented the selling of brides, including some underage, in the Singkawang District of West Kalimantan. This area is the focal point for the bride purchase phenomenon due to the existence of a large, poor ethnic Chinese community. Most buyers are from Taiwan and Hong Kong and seek Chinese-speaking women. Anecdotal evidence and Indonesian officials who have visited Taiwan suggest that many brides become spouses and part of families in Taiwan, although some are trafficked for prostitution, forced domestic work, or other slavery-like practices. In 2004, the Taiwan police received over 170 reports of abuse from Indonesian women living in Taiwan, according to Indonesian police sources. Beginning in 2004, Indonesian police increased their interactions with counterparts in Taiwan. In August 2005, Indonesian and Taiwanese officials held a seminar on protections for Indonesian spouses in Taiwan, and reported that there were 10,115 Indonesian citizen spouses living in Taiwan, roughly 11 percent of all foreign-born spouses. OTHER FORMS -------------- Update -------------- Organizations working on TIP recognized additional categories that presumably generate trafficking victims. In most cases, even less information is available on the prevalence of trafficking in these sectors. One well- documented category that appears to meet the TIP definition is the recruitment of boys to work on offshore fishing platforms (jermals),employment that exposes these children to many serious hazards and isolation for months at a time. The incidence of boys on fishing platforms off the coast of North Sumatra has decreased dramatically over recent years. An ILO field study in June 2003 of 100 known platforms uncovered only 15 children. Though significantly reduced because of sustained ILO efforts, the practice of employing young boys to work on jermals still continues. (ACILS: QWhen They Were SoldQ). End Update. More recent ILO studies have focused on children trafficked aboard fishing vessels. The NGO Terre des Hommes documented the phenomenon of trafficking in babies, as distinct from illegal adoptions. The plantation sector and narcotics trafficking may generate an unknown number of trafficking victims. VULNERABLE GROUPS -------------- Update -------------- A 2006 Airlangga University Human Rights Center study reported traffickers actively solicit new victims in rural areas of East Java by representing themselves as overseas employment recruiters. They convince local village leaders to falsify identity documents in order for the victims to be eligible to work overseas. Once the local documents are falsified, it becomes much easier to obtain false passports and other documentation at a transit point along the trafficking route. In East Java, local NGOs report poverty and poor living conditions motivate young women living in rural areas to travel to an urban area in search of work. Organized human trafficking operations identify and target the village girls in bus and train stations, picking their pockets and then providing an older woman to comfort the victims and offer them work. A debt bond is created for food, shelter and transportation, which the girls are then required to work off prior to release. The girls are transported to Surabaya, where they are indoctrinated or sold again and moved toward Kalimantan and eventually Malaysia or Thailand. End update. Women and children are most likely to fall victim to trafficking in Indonesia. A number of factors contribute to women's vulnerability, including: poverty, lower education levels, cultural expectations, unequal status (relative powerlessness) in the family and society (particularly in lower income groups),limited economic opportunities, and expectations of supporting children and families. Girls who have married and divorced at a young age appear particularly vulnerable. Age and cultural traditions that emphasize the authority of older persons compound children's vulnerability. The frequent complicity of parents and relatives in the trafficking of children reflects a lack of respect for children's rights within some family settings, as well as economic pressures. End update. Traffickers victimize persons from many different ethnic groups. Many persons trafficked originate from densely- populated, low income areas of Java, reflecting the larger pool of potential victims on this island that features some 60 percent of Indonesia's total population and contributes the majority of the country's migrant labor. No accurate statistics are available to judge, however, if the prevalence of TIP (as a percent of the population) is greater on Java than in other regions. The Women's Ministry conducted a study in 2003 of sending areas in West Java that supplied women and girls for prostitution and sex trafficking. The study concluded that a strong correlation exists between poverty and trafficking victims at the district level. Other studies have de- emphasized poverty as the key factor, pointing to the existence of established trafficking networks that lead to greater recruitment of victims in some areas compared to neighboring communities with the same economic profile. GEOGRAPHIC PATTERNS -------------- IOM statistics from March 2005 to October 2006, found that West Kalimantan is the source for the highest number of trafficking victims at 24 percent of the total numbers IOM rescued, followed closely by West Java (21 percent), Central Java (10 percent),East Java (10 percent),West Nusa Tengarra (8 percent),North Sumatra (8 percent), Lampung (4 percent),East Nusa Tenggara (4 percent),Banten (3 percent),South Sumatra (2 percent),and Jakarta (2 percent). These numbers reflect observations by other domestic and international groups, as well as the GOI, on which provinces are the major sending areas. End update. Traffickers send victims to domestic and overseas locations. NGOs and the GOI identify the following provinces as major domestic receiving areas: Bali, East Java (Surabaya),East Kalimantan, Jakarta, Papua, and Riau Islands (near Singapore). Certain provinces stood out as important transit areas for trafficking victims, including: Bali, Jakarta, East Java, Riau Islands, North Sumatra, West Kalimantan and East Kalimantan. In terms of overseas receiving areas, traffickers send Indonesian victims to several countries. Most GOI, NGO and press reports concluded that the greatest numbers of Indonesian victims overseas were found in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, respectively, mirroring overall migrant worker flows to these countries. Other noted destinations included Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. Unlike in some recent years, there were no new reports of trafficking to Australia. GOI agencies and NGOs have documented distinct patterns and routes of trafficking from and to different locations. For example, North Sulawesi is known as an area that sends trafficked women as prostitutes to isolated Papua. West Kalimantan is the focal point for the bride purchase phenomenon, due to the existence of a large, poor ethnic Chinese community there and the fact that most buyers are from Taiwan and Hong Kong and seek Chinese-speaking women. Certain villages in Indramayu, West Java, constitute a well-documented sending area for young girls and women, particularly into the sex trade. During a February 2003 U.S. Embassy visit, Indramayu officials stated that up to two-thirds of girls and young women in certain villages had migrated to work in large cities or overseas, as prostitutes in many cases, leading the local government to allocate anti-trafficking funds. Girls from Indramayu represent the largest group of prostitutes operating in some prostitution areas of Jakarta. FOREIGN VICTIMS IN INDONESIA -------------- Update -------------- There are no dependable estimates on the numbers of persons trafficked into Indonesia from aboard but it is relatively small compared to the number of Indonesian victims inside and outside the country. An agent who provides foreign sex workers to his clients claimed the number of foreign women in prostitution had reached 5,000 from 2000-2003 but that subsequently it has decreased (ACILS, QWhen They Were Sold,Q quoting Q150 Titik Operasi, 2006). National police reported at least 600 foreign prostitutes arrested in raids conducted in the past five years (Cungkok, Geliat Genit, 2006). Such women and girls are placed at night entertainment districts and fitness centers in big cities, including Jakarta, Denpasar, Pekanbaru, Surabaya, Medan, Bandung, Semarang, Makassar and Balikpapan (ACILS, QWhen They Were Sold,Q 2006). End update. Most foreign prostitutes in Indonesia originated from mainland China. According to NGO information, some 150 foreign prostitutes operated in Batam, coming from China and Thailand, along with a small number of Europeans. The media, NGOs, and the ILO reported smaller numbers of women from Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Uzbekistan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Venezuela, Spain and Ukraine. In August 2005, police and immigration officials in Jakarta raided nightclubs, saunas and beauty parlors, rounding up and deporting 68 foreign prostitutes, 63 from China and five from Russia and Uzbekistan. In 2004 ACILS and other non-governmental sources reported Burmese seafarers trafficked aboard fishing vessels from Thailand operating in Indonesian waters. Over a period of years, some of these fishermen jumped ship in the remote eastern Indonesian port of Tual. In 2006, one NGO estimated that there were some 100 such Burmese fishermen living in undocumented status near Tual. TRAFFICKING CONDITIONS, METHODS -------------- For internal trafficking into the sex trade, traffickers used debt bondage, violence and threats of violence, drug addiction, and withholding of documents to keep women and children in prostitution. Traffickers employ a variety of means to attract and hold victims, including promises of well-paying jobs, debt bondage, community or family pressures, threats of violence, rape, and false marriages. Promises of relatively lucrative employment are among the most common tactics. For example, police and NGO interviews of women who escaped from forced prostitution in Batam, Papua and Malaysia commonly reveal that traffickers recruited the young women with offers of jobs in restaurants, supermarkets or as domestic servants. Once at their destination, traffickers used violence and rape to force them into the sex trade. Migrant worker recruiters also use misrepresentation and debt bondage to traffic men and women. Beginning in December 2004 and continuing through 2005, the GOI freed some 2,000 women and girls detained in illegal Jakarta-area migrant worker holding centers, many of which reportedly kept their victims illegally confined under inhumane conditions. Debt bondage is particularly common in the sex trade. Indonesian women and girls trafficked into prostitution in Batam, for example, commonly began with a debt of five to ten million rupiah (USD 600-1,200). Given the constant accumulation of other debts, women and girls are often unable to repay these amounts, even after years of work as prostitutes. Although detailed information was lacking, NGOs assumed traffickers would subject foreign victims held in prostitution to threats, violence, and withholding of documents. Some migrant workers, often female, also entered trafficking and trafficking-like situations during their attempt to find work abroad through migrant worker recruiting agencies (PJTKI). Licensed and unlicensed PJTKI used debt bondage, withholding of documents and confinement in locked premises to keep migrant workers in holding centers, sometimes for periods of many months. Some PJTKI also use threats of violence to maintain control over prospective migrant workers. Civil society, officials, and victims themselves commonly viewed conditions of debt bondage and physical confinement as acceptable aspects of the migrant worker system, rather than as rights violations. Traffickers sent Indonesian victims both overseas and to domestic locations. As noted above, traffickers focused disproportionately on women and children. Traffickers also took advantage of persons in many impoverished regions. While poverty plays a leading role in facilitating trafficking, poor educational opportunities, cultural factors and established trafficking networks also acted as important determinants. TRAFFICKERS -------------- Traffickers fit many different profiles. Some worked in larger mafia-like organizations, particularly for trafficking into major prostitution areas. Others operated as small or family-run businesses. Husband-wife teams of traffickers were common, with the wife often serving as the recruiting agent. In many instances, local community leaders and parents of victims assisted in trafficking. Some PJTKI operated similar to trafficking rings, leading both male and female workers into debt bondage, abusive employment situations and other trafficking situations. Some of the offending PJTKI held official licenses. Others operated illegally or appeared to be paper fronts for traffickers. Some individual members of the security forces were complicit in trafficking, particularly by providing protection to brothels and prostitution fronts in discos, karaoke bars and hotels, or by receiving bribes to turn a blind eye to such crimes. An unknown number of civilian officials, including those who work in local government service, immigration, and local Manpower offices, either contributed to or were complicit in trafficking. There were many reports of families either selling or encouraging children to enter abusive domestic service or prostitution. Children worked to pay off debts or advances provided to their families. In certain rural communities, such as Indramayu, West Java, the GOI and NGOs repeatedly noted a culture in which young women were encouraged to support their families by becoming big-city prostitutes. SIGNS OF POLITICAL WILL -------------- Update -------------- Political will to fight trafficking was clear at the national leadership level as well as at local levels, while awareness of the issue continued to penetrate through government agencies. The Government of Indonesia (GOI) completed the final draft in February 2007 of a strong, comprehensive anti-trafficking bill (law) taking input from Indonesia civil society and international NGOs to ensure that the bill would cover all major aspects of the issue and could be an effective tool for law enforcement. Parliament and the executive branch worked feverishly on the bill for months in order to bring the bill before the full Parliament for passage on March 20, 2007. President Yudhoyono in August 2006 issued presidential decree No 6/2006 on reform policy on placement and protection system of Indonesian migrant workers to provide more comprehensive protection of migrant workers and better coordination among agencies. This resulted in the beginning of cooperation between police, immigration, prosecutors and other officials for the protection of migrant worker. For example, Ministry of Manpower and national police took initial steps to cooperate in providing protection of trafficked migrant workers by signing a February 2007 MOU which provides for joint enforcement at all transit airports and ports. The National Plan of Action (NPA) bore fruit in more effective national coordination of efforts, as dozens of members of the task force from all concerned agencies and NGOs met four times during 2006. The GOI established more victim medical treatment facilities and dramatically increased the number of police and prosecutors focused on trafficking. The President furthermore has appointed senior level officials in key positions with clear instructions to eliminate trafficking, resulting in noticeable progress in law enforcement (see below). The government furthermore trained over a thousand law enforcement officials on fighting trafficking, oftentimes in inter-agency courses also attended by NGOs. The numbers of special anti- trafficking police and prosecutors greatly increased. As President YudhoyonoQs clear stance on clean government filtered down this year through the ranks, corrupt officials complicit in trafficking have been fired, prosecuted or transferred. Several senior law enforcement officials complicit in illegal activities that promoted trafficking are being investigated for corruption, have been sanctioned or have been transferred to less sensitive position, according to various reliable sources. Cooperation among various government offices and international NGOs at Indonesian diplomatic missions in key sending areas resulted in increased victim rescues, and more humane repatriation. Provincial and local governments have begun carrying the torch in efforts, passing local laws, increasing funding, increasing law enforcement efforts and setting up mechanisms for strong cooperation between government and civil society. Progress in North Sumatra -------------- In Western Indonesia, significant progress was made in two provinces with historical problems with trafficking: North Sumatra and Aceh. In North Sumatra, the provincial level anti-trafficking task force brought together representatives from the provincial offices of health, women's empowerment, education, social affairs, and youth with the police, NGOs, and religious groups to promote cooperation, pool resources, and organize outreach activities to assist victims. Consistent with the existing anti-trafficking action plan, the provincial task force met with counterparts in Malaysia to discuss cooperation in rescuing and repatriating trafficking victims. They also met with trafficking victims in Malaysia. In at least one case, Indonesian police officers joined their Malaysian counterparts in a raid to rescue an Indonesian victim there. The provincial task force also helped to organize a local one in Tanjung Balai, an area that has been a transit, source, and destination for trafficking victims. It also conducted training for officials working in local ports to identify possible victims. These efforts resulted in the arrest of at least two traffickers and prevented two groups of under aged girls from being trafficked out of the region. The task force also worked to bridge relations between police and local officials. As part of its efforts to promote anti-trafficking policies at the national level, the provincial task force organized a regional conference which brought together relevant officials, NGOs, and religious groups from neighboring provinces and Jakarta to discuss joint actions. As evidence of increased commitment to prosecuting traffickers, the police point out that in 2006, there were 10 trafficking cases handled by the police. Seven have already been turned over to prosecutors and the others are still under investigation. A local NGO active in anti-trafficking activities (Pusaka) points out that not only have the police been more aggressive in pursuing traffickers but the prosecutor's office has begun to recommend long sentences for traffickers. One impact of this approach has been, according to the NGO, reduced trafficking in the province as reflected in the number of victims receiving assistance from NGOs. North Sumatra is one of a small number of provinces with its own anti- trafficking law. Progress in Aceh -------------- Aceh began to organize its own provincial anti-trafficking task force based on the North Sumatra model. The provincial legislature is also in the process of drafting its own anti-trafficking law with the goal of passage in ¶2007. Representatives of both NGOs and the police have said that the province's relatively high levels of poverty, low levels of education, and proximity to destination areas places it at risk of becoming a source area. Through awareness campaigns and partnerships with NGOs and religious leaders, they hope to prevent a trafficking problem from developing in the first place. End update. Indonesia' priority to fight trafficking found renewed expression in public remarks by President Yudhoyono, cabinet members, and other senior officials. In December 2005, President Yudhoyono called publicly for the quick passage of the comprehensive anti-trafficking bill and personally decried the conditions of trafficked migrant workers. In January 2006, President Yudhoyono and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi issued a joint statement, which "condemned acts of trafficking in persons as an atrocious crime against humanity." The joint statement also "expressed strong commitment in working together to combat such crime and instructed the two countries' respective national police to enhance cooperation towards such a goal." Indonesia's Women's Minister and Manpower Minister spoke out against trafficking publicly and in meetings. LIMITATIONS, RESOURCES -------------- Update -------------- GOI officials and NGOs reported that the national and local governments increased outlays for specific anti-trafficking efforts over the past several years, although specific budget figures were difficult to confirm. Nevertheless, the Ministry of WomenQs Empowerment reported that its anti- trafficking budget increased by ten percent over 2005 to US$330,265 for 2006. GOIQs overall budget for anti- trafficking for 2007 is US$4,876,502. This is the first year the GOI has reported its overall anti-trafficking budget. The budget breaks down as follows: -- Coordinating Ministry for PeopleQs Welfare, $85,678 for research on empowerment of women and children at risk; socialization and advocating of anti-TIP policy at border areas; monitoring and evaluation; position paper of counter TIP in Indonesia 2006 report; -- State Ministry for Women Empowerment, $330,232 for prevention, protection, victim reintegration and rehabilitation; coordination and cooperation; -- Department of Social Affairs, $4,460,592 for reintegration of migrant worker with problems (trafficked, violence victims) from Malaysia (budgeted for 35,500 people); reintegration of migrant workers with problems (trafficked, violence) from outer Malaysia; decentralization of services, (allocated budget for 33 provinces including budget to help trafficking and violence victims). The East Java legislature appropriated $38,000 from its 2007 budget to operate the East Java Integrated Service Center (PPT) operated in the provincial police hospital in Surabaya. The PPT provides medical and psychological services for female victims of violence and human trafficking. There are also 23 regency level PPTs in East Java. The regencies pay for the daily operations of those PPTs, which also serve human trafficking victims. End update. Given the scope of the country's trafficking problem, Indonesia's actions against trafficking, whether the responsibility of national or local governments, continued to demonstrate serious weaknesses and failings. Indonesia's relative poverty, weaknesses in governance, poor public funding, preoccupation with post-tsunami recovery, and endemic corruption all contributed to these shortcomings. As a developing country with a low per capita income, and as a new democracy of some 240 million people struggling with a legacy of 40 years of authoritarian rule, Indonesia faces huge challenges in governance, which significantly limit the GOI's ability to fight trafficking. Indonesia's emerging democratic structures commonly lack capacity and integrity, and face critical funding limitations. Overall, government funding for anti-trafficking remained very inadequate, a situation similar to the country's response to many other crimes and social ills. Limited funding constrained central and local governments' assistance and protection efforts. This included the GOI's ability to detect and assist victims on islands sometimes many hundreds of miles from the national and provincial capitals. While the GOI did assist many Indonesians trafficked abroad, assistance and protection efforts, in particular for persons trafficked within Indonesia, remained very sporadic and did not reach most victims. Limited police budgets and lack of operational funds severely hampered investigations, many of which required travel to other police districts. CORRUPTION -------------- President YudhoyonoQs strong anti-corruption stance resulted in action against officials complicit in trafficking in 2006. Anti-corruption actions taken this year, while just a beginning, are unprecedented and send a clear message to corrupt officials. The national police chief, the attorney general and the new director general of immigration all gave signals to subordinates that corruption would not be tolerated, taking their lead directly from the President. As a result, GOI and NGO sources confirmed that several senior officials suspected of corruption that contributed to trafficking are either being investigated for corruption, were sanctioned, or were transferred to less sensitive positions. New appointments of senior immigration and police officials with a reputation for honesty and with the will to crack down on trafficking further offered more hope for anti-trafficking efforts. In addition, the following specific actions can be reported: On September 29, 2006 former Indonesian Consul General in Penang, Malaysia, Erik Hikmat Setiawan was sentenced by the Corruption Court in Jakarta to 20 months and fined of 100 million rupiah in a passport corruption case. Setiawan, was found guilty of collecting illegal charges by raising the cost of new immigration documentation. This included the extension of passports as well as issuing of new passports for Indonesian citizens, especially laborers in Penang. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested Eda Makmur, a former Consul General in Johor Baru, Malaysia, for allegedly enriching himself by inflating fees for passport services and misusing his authority while serving as an Indonesian diplomat in Malaysia. The commission said it had evidence Makmur had received illegal fees amounting to 302,000 ringgit (about US$86,285) during his term from 2004 to 2006. Ministry of manpower told us that an airport official and four immigration officials were sanctioned and removed from Jakarta airportQs Terminal 3 in late 2006 for exploiting migrant workers returning from abroad. End update. Corruption, which took firm root under the former Suharto government, remains widespread and deeply entrenched. The legal system generally functions poorly and rule of law is weak, severely affecting GOI law enforcement efforts for all crimes, and TIP cases are no exception. The police force is only slowly coming to grips with its proper role in a democracy and under civilian, rather than military, authority. Corruption in Indonesia's legal system affects trafficking cases. According to NGO reports, and statements from officials and police, in recent years traffickers have used corruption in the legal process to their benefit to obtain reduced charges and sentences, to manipulate investigative reporting, and to avoid charges altogether. Often times, NGOs, officials and private citizens did not report information on corruption and illegal activities to the authorities because of concern over retribution or lack of trust in the system to take action in such cases. Corruption among government officials and institutions responsible for producing national identity cards, passports and other identifying documents contributed substantially to trafficking. This particularly affected the trafficking of persons abroad and the trafficking of minors into prostitution. The Yudhoyono administration launched a new and promising anti-corruption campaign, breathing life into an existing Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and creating a special anti-corruption task force under the Attorney General's Office. The campaign achieved some notable, high-profile successes in its first 16 months, but represented only the beginning of a very long process needed to significantly reduce endemic corruption. GOI MONITORING AND ASSESSMENTS -------------- Update: Senior GOI officials periodically evaluate the Government's performance, including serious shortcomings. The GOI uses the National Anti-Trafficking Task Force to evaluate progress and shortcomings under the framework of the National Action Plan to combat trafficking. Much of the task forceQs efforts went into final formulation of the comprehensive anti-trafficking bill. This task force met four times in the past year. Based on direct Embassy observations and accounts by international NGOs and GOI officials the task forceQs meetings also resulted in noticeable cooperation between various agencies and NGOs. For example, NGOs are referring victims to trafficking units at police hospitals, where they receive treatment and counseling under social services and the health ministry, and are reintegrated back into their communities via social services. Police and NGOs are cooperating in investigating cases where victims are willing to testify. Police and prosecutors told us that are beginning to work more closely together. All government agencies are beginning to keep better statistics on trafficking problems and successes, so that the extent of the problem is better known. Police and immigration both report closer cooperation, and more recently police and manpower officials said they have begun to cooperate. End update. The Task Force had the following priorities for 2004-2007: -- Adoption of the comprehensive anti-trafficking law; -- Increase in public awareness campaigns and efforts; -- Promotion of better mechanisms for counter-trafficking programs at provincial and district levels; -- Full development of shelters in all provinces and in half of all districts; -- Strengthening the capacity of law enforcement officers and task forces at all levels; and -- Building data collection and information systems. As an example of its activity, a National Anti-Trafficking Task Force meeting, held in late February 2006, endorsed a number of practical actions, including: targeting the passage of the anti-trafficking bill in 2006; increasing GOI public awareness programs; increased attention to the role of falsified national identity documents in contributing to trafficking; better defining procedures for victims to access government services; development of an awards program for local government leaders who carry out significant anti-trafficking efforts; and needed follow-up with the Finance Ministry and the National Planning Board to explore more national and local level funding in anticipation of the end of foreign anti-trafficking assistance. The GOI produces and publicly distributes an annual anti- trafficking report, normally available by April of each year. It completed its third annual report in early 2007 and has begun drafting the next report. -------------- II. PREVENTION OF TRAFFICKING -------------- UPDATE -------------- A high level of media attention on trafficking continued in 2006 with civil society continuing to press the media to pay attention to the crisis. Several major articles were appearing in the media almost weekly. For example, a major Surabaya newspaper did a series of hard hitting investigative articles exploring many facets of women and girls trafficked into prostitution. A leading national news magazine had several strong articles about trafficking. A national television news magazine show did a one-hour talk show on trafficking, interviewing a girl, now 16, who was trafficked to Malaysia and abused at age ¶15. The show also interviewed her parents, the brokers who trafficked her, and anti-trafficking NGOs experts (also showing the G/TIP Public Service Announcement (PSA) on trafficking). Meanwhile, the GOI continued a program of national PSAs and distribution of written pamphlets and booklets on trafficking aimed at women and girls. TIP Hero Dewi Hughes and her foundation used her own money in 2006 to conduct a dialogue and press conference with five high-profile religious leaders from IndonesiaQs prominent religious institutions, resulting in the signing of a declaration calling for other religious leaders to mobilize against trafficking. Members of three Muslim women association branches used video training to reach 10,000 people. At its own volition, a national Muslim organization, Lakpesdam NU, also developed and disseminated 1,000 booklets for Muslim Leaders with talking points on human trafficking for Friday Prayer sermons. This same group held a series of talks with expert speakers to educate its young members about the issue. In Surabaya, a coalition of anti-trafficking NGOs met monthly at the American Consul GeneralQs home to coordinate their activities. Another national Muslim organization, PP Muhammadiyah, with The Asia Foundation support, is creating fliers addressing trafficking issues and distributing them outside participating mosques following Friday prayers. Four such fliers have been created, and 32,000 copies were made of each. To date, 124,000 fliers have been distributed at 21 mosques in 21 regencies, reaching approximately 100,000 community members, and this effort is continuing after international NGO support ended. At the same time, the Association of Aceh Religious Students (RTA) has produced six opinion articles which have been published in two different newspapers, reaching approximately 30,000 readers. The national Scout movement continued to expand its anti-trafficking campaign in West Java. The GOI made progress in achieving free basic education and free birth registrations in some districts. The GOI began has introduced a biometric passport with improved security features. End update. GOVERNMENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF TRAFFICKING -------------- Update -------------- As explained throughout this report, the level of government acknowledgement of the trafficking problem has expanded dramatically. The various social service agencies already had a high awareness, but are now joined by police and immigration officials, whose understanding deepened greatly in 2006. Judges now are beginning to understand the issue. Ministry of Manpower officials have lagged behind but the creation of a new migrant worker protection agency is a hopeful sign. Acknowledgement of military officials complicit in trafficking has made no progress and government officials we spoke to were unwilling to acknowledge this complicity. End update. The GOI at the most senior levels acknowledges that trafficking is a serious problem that affects many Indonesian women and children. This acknowledgement is reflected in presidential and ministerial-level statements, including clear public statements by President Yudhoyono in 2005; three related national action plans; national and local anti-trafficking task forces; additional criminal sanctions included in the 2002 Child Protection Act; in the 2006 Victim Protection Act; police actions to combat trafficking; and current GOI and DPR efforts to pass comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation. As an important signal of its recognition of the problem, the GOI seeks, accommodates and welcomes international assistance to fight the trafficking of Indonesian citizens, including in the area of law enforcement. Indonesia actively participated in international, regional and sub- regional anti-trafficking events, including preparation and signing of the November 2004 ASEAN anti-trafficking declaration, and hosting of the ASEAN TIP workshop in 2005. President Yudhoyono and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's January 2006 joint statement condemned trafficking as "an atrocious crime against humanity." Some GOI agencies, individual officials and local governments lagged behind in understanding and acknowledging TIP. Others took anti-TIP actions without using the term "trafficking." A number of senior civilian officials and law enforcement officers continue to believe that trafficking is a problem only for Indonesians victimized abroad and they do not acknowledge or admit the existence of internal trafficking, particularly for prostitution. In general, trafficking within Indonesia's borders received less acknowledgment and priority than trafficking of Indonesians to other countries, though law enforcement actions against internal trafficking appeared to increase. HEFFERN